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The news that Yang Qiujin did morning and evening exercises with her family, practiced martial arts and martial arts, and worked on the farm soon spread throughout the family compound.
One military wife didn't understand: "She only has one child, and her husband has a good allowance, why does she have to torture herself like this?"
"I guess he's used to working in the countryside. He can't enjoy a leisurely life in the army, so he's looking for something to do." The wife of a soldier with triangular eyes who looks difficult to get along with said with a sour smile.
"I don't know what she's doing. She's from the countryside too. Look at Shi Fangfang. She takes care of the kids and does housework all day long. She visits and socializes with us military wives. Isn't that good?"
"Perhaps she and Captain Chen are not on good terms, and she feels lonely and empty inside, so she works so hard. Everyone in the barracks knows that Captain Chen doesn't like her."
"Tsk, it's just like what Shi Fangfang said. She is a shrew in the countryside. She quarrels and fights for no reason. Which man can stand such a woman? It's strange that Captain Chen likes her."
There is a big poplar tree against the wall at the gate of the family compound. A group of idle military wives, each holding a small stool and sewing, sit under the big poplar tree and chat about family matters.
A young military wife with delicate eyebrows and eyes heard what they said and pulled the thick thread in her hand and said, "Come on, are you still dealing with Shi Fangfang?"
"What's the matter? Does Shi Fangfang have anything to say?" The triangular-eyed military wife perked up when she heard her tone.
The pretty young military wife in her twenties said, "I don't know anything else, but I know that Battalion Commander Chen and Military Doctor Ji are from the same commune, and Yang Qiujin and Shi Fangfang are from the same village. Shi Fangfang was originally Chen Shengqing's childhood sweetheart. Her mother is a widow who hooked up with any man in the country. More than ten years ago, she hooked up with Yang Qiujin's father. She almost drove her mother to death. Later, she saw that Yang Qiujin was looking for a partner with Ji Jun’s medical department. Shi Fangfang was jealous and hooked up with Yang Qiujin’s father. She drugged Yang Qiujin and pushed her onto Chen Shengqing’s bed. Then she drugged Ji Jun’s doctor and climbed onto his bed. Chen Shengqing married Yang Qiujin to be responsible, and Shi Fangfang also married Ji Jun’s doctor.
"What? There is such a thing!" The military wives who were listening to the gossip around widened their eyes and gasped.
"Are you telling the truth?"
"I think Shi Fangfang is pretty, speaks softly, smiles, and is very polite to us military wives. She is also generous and often gives candies and snacks to our children. How could she be such a vicious person?"
"Yes, yes, yes, I think Shi Fangfang is a pretty good person. Don't tell me you've accepted Yang Qiujin's favor and are deliberately making up stories to discredit Shi Fangfang."
"If I accept the benefits and spread rumors, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!" The young military wife was wrongly accused by everyone and cursed the sky. "They are all from the same place. If you don't believe it, just ask one of their fellow villagers and you will know. If you still don't believe it, ask Captain Chen and Military Doctor Ji. They are the parties involved and they will never lie."
The excited military wife fell silent.
Shi Fangfang happened to be passing by here after sending her two children to school. The triangular-eyed military wife immediately called her over and said, "Shi sister, come here. I want to ask you something."
"Sister-in-law Dahua, what's the matter?"
Shi Fangfang, who walked over wearing a plain white long dress and trousers with a smiling face, had regular features, fair skin, and was gentle and generous. She didn't look like a vicious person at all.
Sun Dahua said in a few words: "Sister Tao said that you and Chen Shengqing were originally engaged when they were children... and then you stole the marriage of Yang Qiujin, the concubine..."
Shi Fangfang's eyelids jumped, and she looked at Tao Qing, who had thin eyebrows and eyes: "Sister Tao, who told you that?"
Tao Qing said: "Others said it, but many of us military wives know about it."
"Who are those people? Sister Tao, do you know that you will be held legally responsible for spreading rumors and slandering military wives?" Shi Fangfang's smile disappeared, and she said arrogantly: "If you don't give me an explanation today, I will never let you go!"
Seeing her tough attitude, Tao Qing said uncertainly, "I don't know who started it. Anyway, they said it with details, and I just passed it on."
"Can you take what others say seriously?!" Shi Fangfang said with a gloomy face, "How would you feel if I told you that your man is having an affair with someone else?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Tao Qing was also angry. "You can't justify your own bad deeds, why do you want to blame others?"
"You also know how uncomfortable it is to be wronged." Shi Fangfang sneered, looking at the dozen or so military wives under the tree and said, "I, Shi Fangfang, have done things with a clear conscience, and those who are innocent will be innocent!"
"Do you really have a clear conscience?" A young woman in a green Lenin uniform stood up and said, "If you really have a clear conscience, we might as well call Comrade Yang Qiujin over to ask her."
The woman had willow-shaped eyebrows, a high nose, red lips, very fair skin, slightly curly hair, and was wearing an old-style Lenin suit, which made her figure look graceful.
She is the wife of the second battalion commander, named Li Man, and her appearance, beauty and culture are far superior to Shi Fangfang.
Because she was a teacher at the military primary school, as soon as she opened her mouth, the other military wives automatically stood on her side and suspected Shi Fangfang: "Yes, Comrade Shi, if you are really innocent, call Comrade Yang over and talk to him, then everything will be clear."
Shi Fangfang would never let them go to confront Yang Qiujin. She arrived at the army a few days earlier than Yang Qiujin. In order to prevent Yang Qiujin from having too much contact with other military wives and telling her ugly deeds, she deliberately took out the money that she was reluctant to spend, bought a lot of snacks, and bribed the military wives and children in the family compound to leave a good impression on them, and then talked about Yang Qiujin intentionally or unintentionally.
She described Yang Qiujin as a rude and unreasonable woman with a narrow mind, who was jealous of everyone and was a troublemaker and unreasonable woman.
Her looks and the way she dealt with people made people believe her 50%. After Yang Qiujin came to the army, she did not think about making friends with too many army wives, but was busy doing her own things. In addition, she did a shameless thing by driving Xiang Yuxiang away as soon as she arrived at the army, which made these army wives who did not know the inside story believe her 90%.
If Li Man had not stood up to speak for Yang Qiujin today, Yang Qiujin would be seen as a complete bitch in their eyes, and no one would want to make friends with her.
Thinking of this, Shi Fangfang looked unhappy. There were dozens of military wives, big and small, who came to follow the troops in the border defense forces. She had made friends with most of them and had a good relationship with them. However, some military wives, such as Li Man, Tao Qing, Liang Xueqing, etc., were more reasonable and did not believe her one-sided words. They were unwilling to have too much contact with her.
They didn't want to make friends with her, and she was too lazy to pay attention to them. Who knew they would speak for Yang Qiujin?
Shi Fangfang calmed herself down and said, "It's useless for you to go and confront her. We grew up in the same village. I just offended her when I was a child. She has remembered it for more than ten years. She has been resentful of me and has been targeting me all these years. She can say anything to make my life difficult! If you want to find her, please go ahead. I'm sorry that I can't accompany you."
"You're running away now? Are you guilty?" Li Man said in a faint voice, staring at Shi Fangfang with a half-smile on his face. "You said so many bad things about others when you came to the army. Now it's your turn. Why don't you dare to admit it?"
"Who is guilty!" Shi Fangfang stared at Li Man with hatred. "I have no grudge against you, why do you always want to go against me? Is it because my little babe didn't pay attention in class, you said a few words to him, and my little babe accidentally broke your teacup, so you hold a grudge against me and deliberately target me?"
In just a few words, Riemann was led to the personal grudge between the two.
If Li Man had quarreled with her at this time, everyone would ignore Yang Qiujin and focus on the two of them, and Yang Qiujin's confrontation would have come to nothing.
However, Li Man did not respond, and still had a half-smile on his face, as if to expose Shi Fangfang's thoughts, "It's just a cup, it's broken, I won't hold it against the students. Instead, you should reminisce with Comrade Yang."
Everyone then realized that Yang Qiujin had arrived at the gate of the family compound at some point, and was standing quietly at the gate with Zhao Erfeng, watching Shi Fangfang's performance.
Shi Fangfang was flustered for a moment, but soon calmed down: "Yang Qiujin, you can't keep hating me and slandering me just because of what my mother did to your mother. I didn't provoke you, so don't pick on me!"
What a preemptive move! In order to confuse the public, he even dared to push his own mother out to block the bullet.
Yang Qiujin's eyes were full of sarcasm: "You can do it, right? You are the only one who has the final say on right and wrong, right? Fine, since you want to tear your face apart, don't blame me for being rude!"
She turned to look at the increasing number of military wives who had gathered, and said in a leisurely voice: "I, Yang Qiujin, have a bad temper. In my hometown, I am known as a bad wife. There is a reason for that. I have a bad father who eats, drinks, gambles, smokes, and favors boys over girls, and a weak mother who only knows how to complain and cry.
I was hungry and cold, and I was often beaten by my father. Whenever he was drunk or unhappy, he would beat me and my sister with a stick as thick as his wrist. He would also beat my mother from time to time, calling her an old chicken that could not give birth to a son or lay eggs.
In order to protect my sister, my mother, and myself, I gradually learned to resist, to quarrel and to fight. Until one day, when I grew up and became a big girl, I beat down my scumbag father who beat my mother to death for the first time. From then on, my unfilial behavior became well-known...”
"Oh my God, how can there be such a father?" There were cries of surprise from all around.
An older military wife wiped away tears with empathy, "Of course not, my father is just that kind of person. He almost beat me to death when I was a child, but I didn't have the courage like Comrade Yang, so I didn't dare to resist, let alone quarrel with my father. Fortunately, I got married, and the man I married was very hardworking. He became a soldier and an officer, so he let me follow the army. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to live."
Yang Qiujin turned to look at Shi Fangfang again, her eyes as sharp as arrows: "Shi Fangfang, you are jumping up and down everywhere and saying that I am ruthless and unreasonable. Isn't it because you are guilty and afraid that I will tell the ugly things you have done? To be honest, I am not the kind of person who gossips behind people's backs. Back then, your lowly widow hooked up with my father, drugged me, and sent me to Chen Shengqing's bed. I called the police and filed a case locally.
I don't know what means you used to make those inaction servants lock you up for a while and then release you. But I want to tell you that God is watching what you do, and what you have done will never disappear and will always leave traces.
The entire Red Flag Commune knows about your case. The file must still be in the local public security archives. Just go to our commune and ask anyone and they will know. It doesn't matter if you don't admit that you did something evil. I will go find Ji Mingchen and Chen Shengqing now and let them tell everyone what happened back then!"
She turned and left. Shi Fangfang panicked and quickly reached out to hold her back, "Yang Qiujin, don't be like this. Do you want to embarrass both of our families?"
"Face?" Yang Qiujin shook her hand away, her face full of disgust: "When you plotted against me, Chen Shengqing, and Ji Mingchen, did you ever think about our faces? When you spread rumors about me everywhere in the family compound, did you ever think about my face! For the sake of Ji Mingchen, no matter how much I hate you these years, I have never thought of saying a word about you in the family compound. But you, how did you treat me? You were afraid that I would say something bad about you, and you said what I did to you. Even if I beat you to death now, you deserve it!"
The truth had been exposed, but Shi Fangfang still refused to admit it. "I didn't do that. Don't slander me! You are just jealous that I am prettier than you, and you hate that my mom had an affair with your dad. You deliberately slandered me like this!"
Now even the other military wives couldn't stand it anymore, "Shi Fangfang, don't be so shameless, is Yang Qiujin jealous of your beauty? Forget it, in terms of looks, Yang Qiujin is much prettier than you, and in terms of figure, her figure is also better than yours. As the saying goes, whiteness can cover up a thousand uglinesses, you are fairer than Yang Qiujin, and you have covered up the ugliness, do you really think you are prettier than Yang Qiujin?!"
"Yes, I never thought you were such a vicious person. We wanted to get in touch with you more and believed in you before, but we never thought you were such a person!"
Sun Dahua still stood on Shi Fangfang's side: "Don't believe Yang Qiujin, this may be her one-sided statement."
Zhao Erfeng mocked: "Sister Sun, even after all this, you are still speaking for Shi Fangfang. How much have you done for Shi Fangfang? You refuse to acknowledge the facts that are right in front of you."
Sun Dahua shut up. She had indeed accepted a lot of things from Shi Fangfang before. Even if she knew that what Yang Qiujin said was true, she would not change sides in the battle. Her main fear was that if she offended Shi Fangfang, she would be offending Ji Mingchen.
What if someone in her family gets a headache, fever, or other difficult or complicated illness in the future, and Ji Mingchen refuses to treat them? She can't afford the risk.
Shi Fangfang had no way to defend herself, she covered her face and cried bitterly: "Yang Qiujin, why do you want to slander me like this? Even if I have been engaged to Chen Shengqing since childhood and he has me in his heart, and you are not happy to marry him, you can't treat me like this..."
"Shut up!" Yang Qiujin could no longer bear it and slapped her hard on the face. "You and your mother are a slut, and everyone in our village spit on you. Do you think Chen Shengqing really likes you? You and he broke up with each other, and he was happier than anyone else! He still has you in his heart. Are you money or pork? Everyone cares about you? Speaking of really caring about you, you might as well ask Ji Mingchen, who is he really thinking about!"
Yang Qiujin had been working in the fields for many years and had been practicing martial arts and martial arts in the past month. This slap knocked Shi Fangfang to the ground, making her dizzy and with five finger marks on her face.
People around were whispering. Yang Qiujin's words were like thorns that pierced Shi Fangfang's heart. She could no longer hold back and burst into tears. She covered her face, climbed up, and ran away in a panic.
"Bah!" Zhao Erfeng spat at her back and cursed on behalf of Yang Qiujin, "What a piece of shit! I don't know what the military doctor was thinking, bringing her to accompany the army and ruining the good soup for us, the wives of the soldiers!"
Many military wives felt uncomfortable when they heard her words. "Well, Comrade Yang, we were deceived by Shi Fangfang before, so we spread those words to you. We didn't mean it. I hope you can be magnanimous and not hold it against us."
"It's okay." Yang Qiujin shook her head nonchalantly, "I didn't handle the conflict between us well, and it caused you to waste your breath. To be honest, it's my fault too."
"Look, she doesn't sound like an uneducated, irrational wife." Tao Qing laughed, "How can Shi Fangfang compare to such a sensible military wife?"
"That's right." Zhao Erfeng continued, "Sister Yang is at least a junior high school student. I heard that Shi Fangfang didn't even finish elementary school. How can she compare with Sister Yang?"
"Oh, Comrade Yang is still a cultured person. We were really blinded by one thing and failed to see the big picture. We misunderstood you." A group of military wives laughed and gathered around Yang Qiujin to chatter.
Yang Qiujin talked with them for a while and agreed to treat everyone to dinner and chat when she had time. Then she and Zhao Erfeng rushed out of the army, found a fellow villager's carriage, and took it to the farm to work.
When they arrived at the farm, they gathered at the second company compound as usual. Han Yongxin assigned her a task: "Comrade Yang, today you will work with Comrade Zhao to dig cotton seedlings under the plastic film."
Yang Qiujin nodded: "Okay."
She has been working on the farm for almost a month. During this month, she has been there almost every day except for weekends.
She worked quickly and efficiently, and never complained about the hard work. Han Yongxin was very satisfied with her, but the educated youth had some opinions about her.
She worked with the educated youth. With her presence, these delicate educated youth would inevitably be outshined by her. If they didn't want to be scolded and didn't want to admit defeat, they had to grit their teeth and work hard.
In a month's time, the educated youth went from being completely unable to do any farm work to gradually becoming proficient at it and no longer being scolded by Han Yongxin when they worked. Only the educated youth knew the hardships involved.
After hearing what Han Yongxin said, several female educated youths pouted slightly. One of them, a round-faced female educated youth, asked, "Captain Han, are we going to dig the mulch too?"
Digging up the mulch is a relatively easy job, so they also want to do it.
Han Yongxin said, "He Xiaohui, Long Yanli, go to the cornfield and pull out the corn seedlings."
"Captain Han, we were exhausted the whole day yesterday. You should at least assign us some lighter work today. Why are you asking us to pull corn seedlings?" The round-faced female educated youth named He Xiaohui immediately started shouting.
Two years ago, the Second Company obtained several fully automatic seeding machines from the Soviet Union for sowing. These machines are faster than manual work, but they also have major drawbacks.
For example, when it lays seeds in nests, manual sowing can throw 2-4 seeds at most, while a machine must sow at least 4-6 seeds. Although this can effectively increase the survival rate of seeds emerging from the soil, it also adds unnecessary work for people.
That is, when the corn seedlings grow to about 7-15 cm, the excess corn seedlings in the holes should be pulled out to retain the main plant to prevent other seedlings from stealing the nutrients from the main plant.
When pulling corn seedlings, you have to bend down all the time to select and pull out the seedlings. If you accidentally pull the wrong one or break it, you will be scolded and deducted points, which is equivalent to deducting food.
To dig a hole in the plastic film, you just need to squat and dig a hole in it.
Han Yongxin was completely annoyed by these spoiled educated youth. "Why are you talking so much? Digging up the plastic film and pulling up corn seedlings are almost the same job. If you don't want to do it, then go and help the male educated youth carry fertilizer and see which is easier."
"Captain Han, this is your fault." The beautiful Long Yanli said, "We are all female comrades, you should treat us equally, why do you always provide backstage support for Yang Qiujin and others and let them do the easy work?"
"Because Yang Qiujin and Zhao Erfeng are hardworking, no matter what work I assign to them, they never complain." Han Yongxin frowned and said bluntly: "Because they are military wives, our Corps has preferential treatment! If you are not convinced, you can find a soldier to marry and become a military wife like them, and I will give you preferential treatment. If you are not a military wife, don't bargain in front of me! Remember, you come to the frontier to engage in construction, not to enjoy yourself!"
Long Yanli and He Xiaohui were scolded by him in public, and they were so embarrassed that tears welled up in their eyes.
Yang Qiujin couldn't bear to watch this, so she said, "Captain Han, how about I go and pull up the corn seedlings, and you ask one of them to switch with me?"
"Don't pretend to be kind! If you weren't so competitive and trying to be the best in everything, would we be targeted by him?" Long Yanli glared at her fiercely.
Yang Qiujin laughed angrily, "Working hard and doing things seriously is just being competitive in your eyes. Comrade Long Yanli, there is a big problem with your thinking. It seems that you have not yet turned around from the corrupt petty-bourgeois life. You still think this is your home and you can do whatever you want!"
Long Yanli's face changed and she was speechless.
Before she came to the border, her father was the deputy secretary of a municipal party committee in a certain city. She was the daughter of the deputy secretary and lived a life of luxury, with no worries about food and clothing, and everyone praising her.
Who knew that the situation would change, a movement started in the city, her father offended many people, was reported and framed, and was arrested for fighting. In order to protect herself, her mother asked her to publish an announcement in the newspaper to sever ties with her father. After almost a year of twists and turns, she really couldn't stay in the city anymore and had no choice but to come to the border.
She hadn't imagined that life on the frontier was so hard and tiring. The heavy workload almost drove her crazy. On top of that, Yang Qiujin was the model worker who worked without a break at the front, forcing her to work without a break. She felt like she couldn't live any longer!
She said nothing, and Yang Qiujin stopped talking to her. They were all half-grown children who had never suffered much in the city before, but suddenly came to the harsh conditions in the frontier, where they could not do farm work, felt it was hard, and wanted to be lazy. This was normal.
But she shouldn't have directed her criticism at Yang Qiujin. Yang Qiujin was kind enough to exchange jobs with her, but she treated her like a fool. What a fool she was!
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